On Tuesday, of 22,389 scheduled trips, 11,943 were cancelled. “This means roughly 50% of services were impacted,” an official said. Although services in Mumbai, Thane, and Navi Mumbai depots remained operational, delays led to crowding at a few depots, as many passengers planned to travel to their native towns in the Konkan for Ganeshotsav.
At the Kalyan and Vithalwadi depots, only four buses left for Murud, Guhagar and Bhiwandi in the morning. No buses left the two depots after that. Ramesh Jadhav, an elderly resident of Dombivli, who had come to Vithalwadi depot with his wife to go to the Konkan, said, "When I reached the ST depot with my wife, I learnt about the strike. After waiting for an hour and no hope of buses resuming operations, I am returning home dejected.”
Passengers faced inconvenience at Thane and Panvel bus depots despite the absence of a strike at these locations. Thane depot officials confirmed that services to Konkan and other regions were operating but expressed uncertainty about their return the following day. "We cannot miss out on the preparations for the festival in our hometown. We finally decided to opt for alternative services," said Sunil Desai, a commuter at Thane. Though Panvel depot was operational all through Tuesday, delays in the arrival and departure of the buses caused panic among the commuters. Kishore Raut (45), a native of Chiplun, said, "I had to wait for over an hour to board the bus for my destination."
MSRTC union leader Shrirang Barge stated that the primary demands of the workers included salaries on a par with state govt employees and the provision of other facilities for drivers, conductors, and other staff.
Days ahead of Ganeshotsav, around 50% of the state-run long-distance bus services were cancelled Tuesday due to a strike by 11 unions of MSRTC. Kalyan and Vithalwadi depots remained shut. Although services in Mumbai, Thane and Navi Mumbai depots were operational, delays led to crowding at a few depots, as many planned to travel to their hometowns in the Konkan for the festival. The state road transport corporation, MSRTC, has instructed its local officials to file police complaints against those who obstruct employees from joining work Wednesday.
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